Congrats to me!

Thanks to everybody who's tuned in this month to the blog. I've officially had my most hits ever this month.

Sorry...

Hey gang. Sorry about the week with no entries. Life's busy and the blog just kind of faded into the background.

Life has mainly been focused on surviving Thanksgiving. We went down to Sam's Aunt Rachel and Uncle Jeff's house for dinner in G.R. on Thursday. Then we attended S.A.'s cousin Amy's wedding on Friday in Port Huron. Then SA and I went shopping in Detroit and Birch Run on Saturday.

Sam and I just vegged on Sunday.


Dinner was, as always, enjoyable. Jeff got a new Wii as an early Christmas present and we spent a good amount of time trying out all the different games on Thursday evening.

The wedding was nice. (Also, SHORT - which definitely lends itself to a good wedding ceremony, as far as I'm concerned.) A half-dozen of us sat in a corner chatting (and imbibing copious quantities of beer) for most of the evening before Jeff (H.), Jeff (or Joe, if you prefer), Dave, Holly, Amy's friend Amanda, and I went to the hotel bar to watch a one-man-80's-band perform (HORRIBLE). Then Amanda, the Jeff's, and I took off to Jack's Tavern until closing time, playing table-top shuffleboard and the like. I can't remember the last time I closed down a bar. Probably college. Anyway, good times.

Sam's ear infection is much better, but his first 2 teeth are coming in, so he's a bit pissy right now.

And I think that's about it. Thank God. I can't imagine anybody really cares about any of this, but I figured I'd better write something or I'd lose my loyal readership. :)

I promise next entry will be more interesting. Probably.

Laterz

Life is Good

I can think of nothing nicer than rocking my 7-month-old son (who's recovering from yet another ear infection) to sleep.

Those of you who don't have children, you cannot even fathom what you're missing.

God, I'm lucky to be home to do this stuff. Sunday rocks.

Satisfying Lunch Breaks...

Every day, I try to leave my office for the better part of an hour in order to regain a small piece of my sanity. Today, I met SA and Sam at the pediatrician's office (he has ANOTHER ear infection) so I could take Sam back to daycare while SA went to her Dr's appointment across town.
When we got to daycare, the ladies were just starting to feed all Sam's pals so it was a little bit lively in there and many very short people were vying for whatever attention they could get. I stayed for 20 minutes or so to help out. Okay, who am I kidding? I stayed because playing with babies (Mine, yours, anybody's...) makes me happy.
So Thank You to Ms. Cortney, Ms. Sherrie, and Ms. Jan for letting me stick around. I definitely felt much better when I left than I did when I got there.
Also, when I got back to my office, the receptionist has somehow acquired real, honest-to-God, 4-inch-high-bang-creation mall hair. It was great. I asked her if she'd like me to run out for scrunchies or jelly shoes to complete her ensemble.
I figure I don't need to regain sanity anymore because my co-workers are obviously joining me in my insanity.

LIfe notes

My son (the Little Red Crustacean, if you read S.A's blog,) is a very unique little guy. Even though WebMD says it's highly unlikely, he has managed to contract strep throat. Since you're not suppose to get Strep until you're at least 3, I'm choosing to take this as further evidence that he's very advanced, rather than yet another indication that he's awfully sickness-prone.

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Sometimes I HATE my job. I just spent 15 minutes figuring out, via the phone, that one of my co-workers printer wouldn't work because it wasn't plugged in correctly. Even though we theoretically checked it 3 times. How do these people remember to breathe.

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Though most of us are not financial geniuses, if someone were to mention a "credit-debit" to you, would you not think they were a moron? Or at least have no f-ing clue what they were talking about? What about a "Britannical Garden"? I assume that must be where they grow the encyclopedia...

BitTorrent

I love BitTorrent. I just thought I should mention that. I'm going to assume that, if you're reading my blog, you're already familiar with BitTorrent. For anybody who doesn't already know, it's a peer-to-peer file sharing program that allows you to download stuff from many different people at once. It basically makes sharing huge files much more feasible than it would otherwise be. For instance, you can download pretty much any episode of your favorite TV show if you missed it last week. (I know this because I had to download Studio 60 a few weeks ago. Slick.)

I know that many of you techies out there are yelling "It promotes Piracy!" and you're right, however, sometimes it's the only way to accomplish a goal.

Case-in-point- I had a client contact me asking if my company could teach her to use Adobe PageMaker 7.0. I have an instructor who's fluent in PageMaker, so he'd be able to teach her. The problem is that we don't have PageMaker in my classroom anymore and you can't buy it anymore, because Adobe quit producing it a couple years ago. Which is where BitTorrent comes in.

Using Azureus, (my BitTorrent client of choice) I was able to download someone else copy of PageMaker in a little less than an hour and use it to teach this person how to use it. And then I can throw it out we're done, because I don't need a copy of PageMaker.

Also, when it asked me to register the program when I installed it, I put in all my boss's contact information, so if Adobe wants to sue somebody for pirating their program, they'll know who to look at.

Affirmative action

A little fair warning- This post is just off the top of my head. Some details contained in it may well change in the furute as new information presents itself to me. Just so you know...

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Well, SA blogged about Proposition 2 today and, as is invariably the case, somebody felt it necessary to cry out in the comments section that all the poor, beleaguered white men want is a fair shake, doggone it. Okay, I guess I'm paraphrasing a little. His (I'm assuming it's a him.) actual words were, “Every opponent that has spoken out about this proposal has failed to answer one simple question. Can you answer it? What is wrong with equal protection under the law?"

I don't feel as strongly as SA does about the necessity of affirmative action in employment. That's not to say I don't feel it's necessary, it's just saying that I won't be burning my bra about it any time soon. My feelings about affirmative action are much stronger in relation to higher education.

I grew up in a very small town in Northern Michigan. I graduated from high school with 54 students, all of them white. However, (even though my high school guidance counselor told me I was insane) I went to college in Miami, Fl. The biggest reason I left home was because I knew it was important for me to see something different. My parents instilled this in me from a very early age. Unfortunately, most people in the world are afraid of anything different.

I explain all this for a reason. The best part, I repeat- THE BEST PART of my college education is that I went to a school with a tremendously diverse population. I learned a HUGE amount about the rest of world and the way people experience it because I went to school with a whole ton of people who were VERY different from me. Had I gone to a small school in Michigan - Northern Michigan University is almost exactly the same size - I would not have had that experience, because, like most public universities in Michigan, Northern's student population is almost exclusively white.

One exception to the lily-white rule in Michigan is the University of Michigan. Michigan has admitted that they do weigh race into their admissions decision-making because they feel that diversity is an important part of a positive college experience. I'm sure that they'd rather not have to look at race but the problem is that, in the United States, minorities tend to be concentrated in urban areas and, unfortunately, inner-city schools tend to be inferior to their suburban and even rural counterparts. Because minority students often get an inferior high school education, to weigh their desirability compared to white students solely on their grades and test scores would not result in nearly as many minority students attending Michigan as the school wants. So they factor race into the equation.

Anti-affirmative action advocates often state that this is unfair to white students. They're wrong. By having a more diverse population, colleges provide a more positive experience for ALL their students. Also, for all the folks who say, "Now you have students in school who shouldn't be there because they didn't get a good enough education to be successful at a school like Michigan!" check the graduation rates.

Michigan, the lightning-rod for all the affirmative action controversy, has the highest graduation rate of any public university in the state. Not bad for a school that keeps letting all those "unqualified" students in. My guess (based on my personal experience) is that if you were to look at only the students who were specifically admitted to U of M based on affirmative action guidelines, you'd find that their grades and graduation rates were even better than the student body at large. Those folk tend to be the people who really want to be in college. They recognize the opportunity they've been presented with and don't want to waste it.

I guess my point is this, the day that everybody actually has an even playing field- when every student has access to the same quality of education - when Michigan voters decide that it might actually be important to give enough money to education to FIX it!!!- then affirmative action in college admissions won't be necessary. But until then, it's necessary. Period.

Holy Crap...

We won.

And by "we", I mean rational, conscientious Americans as a whole. The American people have spoken and they say, (to quote Lou Dobbs - and I can guarantee this is definitely the first time we've quoted Lou Dobbs on my blog...) "[Washington,] Shut up and Listen!"

Democrats now have control of the House. They have control of the Senate. And Rumsfeld is FINALLY gone.

It's about damn time!

They FINALLY have the right people in enough positions of power that they can offset some of the moronic policies put in place by President Can't-tell-my-ass-from-a-hole-in-the-ground.

Now we pray that they don't screw it up.

Good grief...

Well, it's not as bad as the last election...

American voters turn out in pretty good numbers (for a non-presidential-election year) to turn control of the House of Representatives over to the Democrats. As I type this, there are still 2 elections that are undecided, with Senate races in Virginia and Montana (Montana??? Seriously? The political fate of the country hinges on Montana?) being too close to call. At this point, though, it looks look for the Democrats in both of those races. If they do, in fact, win both races, they'll have control of BOTH houses and effectively block any other hair-brained schemes our Moron-in-Chief comes up with for the next 2 years.

Everybody cross your fingers.

On a more local note, Michigan voters somehow managed to elect the right candidate for most of the important positions, at least least those that directly effect Northern Michigan. Governor Granholm was re-elected. (Thank God...) Stabenow and Levin were re-elected to the Senate. Bart Stupak was re-elected to the State Senate. And Gary McDowell was re-elected to the state house by a landslide. Evidently most folks agreed with my "Jay Duggan is an ass" stance.

However, even though we elected most of the right people, we COMPLETELY screwed the pooch when it came to the various ballot proposals. In a state with a Democratic Governor and 2 Democratic Senators, we managed to effectively eliminate affirmative action and to declare that education is important to Michiganders, but not THAT important. So on a National scale, I'm pretty pleased this morning. On a local scale... Not so much.


Anyway, I'm sure I'll be checking back in throughout the day as new stuff happens. Good work people. At least the who friggin' country won't be controlled by right-wing-wackos now. Maybe we can start bringing some of our soldiers home now, before they get killed for no damn reason...

Everbody cross your fingers..

Well, polling places have just closed in the east (including most of Michigan) so we just have to hope, now. To paraphrase my buddy Adam, in a few hours I'll know if I should put everything I have into leaving the country.

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On an unrelated note, remember, when next you look at your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other, tell 'em how much you love 'em. We all need to hear it from time to time.

I love you, S.A.

Reasons why Jay Duggan is an ass.

We have a local election coming up. Among the races to be decided is the race for the 107th District of the Michigan State House of Representatives. The incumbent, Gary McDowell is a Democrat who ran last election on a pro- gun rights platform (obviously among many other things). This sticks out for me as I'm not a big fan of the pro-gun lobby. His opponent is Jay Duggan, a local Petoskey businessman.
There was never a chance that I was going to vote for Mr. Duggan, but I thought I read the absolute perfect reason to vote against him recently. My Duggan stated in a number of ads that he was endorsed by a national right-to-life organization. Obviously this classifies him as someone for whom I would not vote. But then it a tremendously humorous twist, the organization commanded him to stop saying he was endorsed by them, because they didn't want him either.
So he's pro-life (strike 1) but evidently so undesirable that even right-to-life groups don't want to claim him (strike 2) and on top of everything else he's a liar (strike 3 - shouldn't he be out by now? Maybe it's a foul ball. I guess being a liar may be a pre-req to being a politician.) and, since he put his lies out in the media where it was going to be EASY to get caught, he's obviously stupid. (That's it. You're outta here!)

Even you Republicans shouldn't be voting for this guy.

Sheesh...

Arguing with "The Voice of Reason"

This afternoon's entry's title refers not to the fact that SA would tell me I've been doing just that ever since we got married, but instead, to the fact that yesterday's "Chickens*** Commenter" has decided it's time to lose to derogatory title. So he/she checked back in with more abortion-centered argument.

I'm not gonna go into detail rebutting him/her again, because, in all honesty, I really don't want my blog to turn into Spike's Online Crossfire.

Also, I can't figure if "Voice" is from Holland, MI, (which would explain A LOT. Holland is the Dutch Reformed Church capital of the US. When my dad (an Earth Science major) worked at a grocery store in Holland in the Early 70's, the butcher spent a great deal of time telling him that evolution was a bunch of bull. When my dad calmly asked him how he explained the preponderance of dinosaur bones found in the earth, the butcher exclaimed "God made the earth with big bones in it!" Logic like this can make it very difficult to argue with creationists. It also makes you wonder who let them all out of the loony bin.) or else from Cincinnati, OH. Truly, I don't really know a ton about Cincinnati, other than there must be something in their water supply, because their football players get arrested at a REALLY rapid rate.

Anyway, I'll give a little bit of credit to "Voice", if only for checking back in. Also, sir/ma'am, there's not too much danger of offending me by disagreeing with me about abortion. It's an issue that I wrestled with for a long time, so I can understand why some folks (my folks included, when last I checked, though it seemed like my mom might be wobbling a little) disagree with me. As long as y'all don't tell me what I should think, I'll mostly leave you alone.

And on that note- I declare a truce. At least until the next time the Conservative Christian right-wing wackos try to pass yet another law that's WAYYYYY to wide-ranging about abortion. (Yeah... I know. I couldn't let this post end without at least one more dig at the right-wingers. I'm a shitty person. Deal with it.)

p.s. Evidently some of my other readers weren't so easy-going about Voice's stance. I really appreciate the cardboard tube metaphor. I also love that they made the phrase "Food for thought," mean "Stop talking, you bloviating moron."

Political Podcasts

In case any of you were unaware, iTunes offers a number of free political podcasts. You can download weekly addresses from a number of politicians (Barack Obama continues to be well-spoken, in case you'd wondered.) as well as a number of poiltically-themed news shows.

Great stuff to have playing at your desk at work.

Stealing Andrew Andrew's Meme

1. What was the first CD/Record/Album/Artist you ever bought and what format was it in?
Guns ‘n’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction. That was the first CD. I couldn’t tell you the first tape. I had TONS of cassettes as a kid, but I don’t remember which, if any, of them I actually paid for.

2. How do you usually listen to music?
My iPod. 40 gigs of eclectic musical bliss.

3. What is your favorite genre of music and why?
Classic rock, but only because it’s different to find a genre that encompasses KISS, Elton John, Ringo, George Harrison, and Warren Zevon. (Maybe "Old Fogie Music"?)

4. What is your opinion on music video shows and music televion?
I truly cannot remember the last time I watched a music video. Ditto for awards shows.

5. Do you usually agree with who the winners of the Grammy Awards are?
The Grammy Award winners generally make me think that REAL musicians (see above) should have to approve every new artist who wants to record an album because everyone (okay, maybe not everyone, but let’s say 98% of the folks) recording today who’s under the age of 40 is a steaming pile of crap. (On a positive note- Weird Al just scored his first ever top-10 single. I guess maybe there’s a little bit of hope for the music industry.

One other note...

Every time SA and I see one of those "Choose Life" bumper stickers, we comment to each other "Do you think those geniouses realize that they have a PRO-CHOICE bumper sticker on their car?"

Valid comments from chickens*** commenters

I received a comment on yesterday's entry, "SA kicks ass."

The comment was left by "Anonymous" which completely pisses me off. If you are going to express an opinion, PUT A NAME WITH IT. Grow some cojones. I'm not saying you have to use your proper name (notice that mine does not show up anywhere on this blog) but put some identifier with your ideas so people can respond to them.

That said, here's the comment.

Anonymous said...

Doesn’t that onesie idea make you think about the alternative? It’s a pretty ugly thought. Anyway, why do you feel the need to polarize everyone you consider a “republican” into mindless Bush-drones. That’s almost as ignorant as pretending like it’s cool to have to have the right to pick and choose which babies are wanted enough to deserve a birthday.

I feel VERY strongly about abortion. If you want a more complete explanation of those feelings, read my entry from the Roe v. Wade Anniversary. Or better yet, read SA's, also from Jan 22nd. She got quite a bit of national blog press for hers. But here's my quickie response to the comment.

There are 3 separate issues addressed here. So allow me to respond to them in order.

1. I think about the alternative all the time. My son is a miracle. We did not think we'd be able to have him, so I'm incredibly thankful for every moment I'm with him. Personally, I'm totally against abortion. I just don't feel that my personal feelings should dictate the law.

2. My habit of "polariz[ing] everyone [I] consider a “republican” into mindless Bush-drones" is certainly over-simplifying things. I currently vote mostly (though not completely) along Democratic Party lines even though I disagree with a few issues here and there, because I strongly agree with the major issues. I don't accuse most people who read my blog (especially those who take the time to comment) of being "mindless". On the contrary, people who agree with the current Republic stance on abortion are "myopic and self-centered" and people who agree with their stance on Gay rights and diversity issues are "bigots".

3. Anyone who suggests that anything related to abortion is "cool" is an ass. However, living in a country where we get to make decisions about ourselves for ourselves, IS "cool". Christ... Lately it's about the only good thing I can say about living here. (BTW- That, too, was hyperbole, lest it be otherwise lost on you.) And again, if you really want a detailed explanation of why I'm Pro-Choice, read my Roe v. Wade entry.

Alright, back down off my soapbox. At least for a little while.

Oh yes... Thanks for commenting. Please come again. (Seriously.)

Just takin' a survey...

2 things-

1. Remember that next Tuesday is voting day. For those of you who are too lazy to wait in a big 'ol line in order to vote, go get an absentee ballot, pronto. I went over at lunch (telling the nice ladies there that I'd be out of town on Tuesday) and they not only gave me my absentee ballot, but they let me fill it out right then so I have already voted in next Tuesday's elections. So now you have even fewer excuses to not vote. Go do it. NOW.

2. One of my favorite parts of writing this blog is tracking who's reading it. My tracker lets me see a quite a bit of information about my readers, but it does not give me names. I'm able to figure out who most folks are by their location. I've thought about putting in a guest book, but it seems kind of cheesy and I only start to pay attention when somebody's been in a few times. I have one question.

Who is reading my blog in Carson City, Nevada? I know that you connect to the web via the Official State of Nevada Web Site. I just looked at the site and there's a picture of Governor Kenny C. Guinn and this man is obviously a Republican, so now I'm concerned. Am I on some sort of watch list just becuase I'm pretty sure our moron-in-chief has a difficult time remembering how to tie his shoes? I have to know! So leave a comment. Please. I HATE not knowing stuff...

SA kicks ass.

My wife has decided she wants to make a one-sy (one-sie? How the hell are you supposed to spell that? You know, the one-piece oufit that babies wear...) for Sam that says "My mom is Pro-Choice. She chose me."
It's times that this that really make me love her.

Also, voting day is coming up. Remember, Republicans don't care about you. (Unless you're a multi-millionaire. Then they're more than happy to kiss your ass. And seriously, if you're a multi-millionaire, what're you doing reading my blog?)

Deep thoughts

Andrew Andrew says in his "about me" section on his blog that he's "trying to find my path through life." It occurs to me that I don't really want a path through life as much a a path in it. Preferably one that doubles back on itself.
I don't like to think that I'm moving through life. The idea that I'm (in all probability) more than a quarter of the way through it is depressing. I'm in no hurry to be done. I still don't know what the f*** I'm doing.

Halloween with a sick crustacean.

Well, last night was Halloween. Truly it kind of snuck up on me. S.A. bought Sam's costume in July, I think, and since then, it really didn't come up in conversation. Yesterday morning, we realized what day it was and immediately set about figuring out what to do for the evening.

Sam, as you may assume, really couldn't have cared less. The whole "Boatloads of Candy" thing doesn't really interest him since he doesn't have any teeth. Also, he's been feeling like crap, so we weren't willing to have him out-and-about in the cold for the evening. However, S.A. was bound and determined to show off his costume so we finally decided to meet up with my folks and take him to a few select houses and business in order to show him off.

He had a Dr's appointment in the afternoon in order to get his 6-month vaccinations, but when we took him in, Dr. M wouldn't let him have them because he has... Drumroll please... yet another ear infection. One good/bad thing about Sam is that he doesn't show you that he's sick during the day. He laughed and play with the pediatrician all through the appointment even though the his poor right eardrum actually elicited some "blue' language from the doctor.

Anyway, we took him out trick-or-treating to those few houses and a good time was had by all. (Even though we had to take him out of his costume every time we got in the car because, as it turns out, car seats don't work when you have a big red tail.) He was a charmer the entire evening; smiling, laughing, and clapping on command.

He waited until we got home to get grouchy and keep us awake all night.

I'll put some pics up this evening. Check back in later.